Miidasu
by Ciircee
Summary: We know that Sonomi knows about the Cards and that Fujitaka told her...but we haven't heard the full story yet...Part of Third Arc (but can be read alone)


Disclaimer: CLAMP.  
Dedication: Chelle-sama, as always; and this time in particular, because she laughed.  
Note: Part of 'Third Arc'. We know that Sonomi knows about the Cards. We know Fujitaka told her. We don't know the full story, though, do we? And it's definitely _not_ what Tomoyo thought it was. Takes place (timeline-wise) during the third year of 'Haikei'. Cultural note: 'Go' is a board game, popular in China and Japan. It's sort of like Othello but a lot more complicated.  
Apology: To Kero-kun. ^.^ I don't hate you, not at all...But it's _so_ funny.  
Translation on the title: To find out, to discover.

_Miidasu_

"I must admit that I'm surprised, Sensei." Sonomi smiled as Fujitaka took her coat. 

He smiled at her as he hung it up. "About what, Sonomi-kun?" And yes, the man's smile did tend to make her weak around the knees. It wasn't the first time that Sonomi had acknowledged to herself that she could easily fall in love with the man; she was probably already half-way there, but for one or two little details.

"This is the third time this month that we've had a date at your house." She winked. "I might start thinking things, if you're not careful." She was already 'thinking things', such as how cozily domestic eating together at his home was and how nice it was to simply sit together watching a movie on the television.

"Ah, you've guessed my intentions." Fujitaka laughed and led her into the family room. "I have some wine breathing, if you'd like a glass."

There were already two neatly poured glasses waiting and Fujitaka, she noted, winced just slightly when he saw them. "That sounds lovely." That odd yellow plush toy was sitting on the table as well. Sonomi looked at it for a moment before picking up her glass of wine. "Today was a bit rough at the office. And no, I'm not telling you. Last time I talked about office stress you laughed for two hours about the disaster caused by Polly Potty's sphincter." She picked up the plushie and tossed it casually in the air. "This is Sakura-chan's?" She asked idly as she caught it again. It...well...squeaked was the wrong word. Yelped?

"Yes!" Fujitaka caught it on her next toss. "She must have left it down here earlier." He set the plushie back on the table with a slight pat on it's head and an overly-cheerful smile. "She's quite fond of it."

"Hm." Sonomi pursed her lips briefly, still looking at the toy before smiling at the man she was dating. "Sakura-chan is helping Touya-san and Tsukishiro-san tonight?" He'd already told her, actually, that Sakura was making dinner for her older brother and his lover at their new apartment. She picked the toy up again and squeezed it experimentally. It made the same yelping sound as before. Fujitaka jumped. "It's a very cute toy." Sonomi said, sipping her wine. "It has a squeeze box inside?" She tightened her hold on the toy and it yelped once more.

Fujitaka nearly tripped over himself as he took the toy from her hands. "It does, I'm sure. I'm going to...ah...take this into the kitchen. I'll make you a cup of tea! It'll do well with the wine, to relax you." He smiled gently and touched her hair. "You should relax if you've had a hard day." He brushed a gentle kiss over her forehead and when he drew away there was nothing false at all about his smile or hers. "I know you've already had dinner with Tomoyo-san, but I'm making a cake for dessert."

"That sounds heavenly." She told him truthfully, placing her hands over his to steady herself as she stretched up to kiss his cheek. "Why don't I set up the Go table?" The toy in Fujitaka's hand twitched. Fujitaka's hands hadn't moved. Sonomi smiled and stepped back. "You were going to the kitchen?" Her date for the evening nodded and escaped. It sounded like he was muttering to himself as he went about making tea, but somehow, Sonomi didn't think that was the case. If anybody in the world would know what a squeeze box or a squeaker felt and sounded like, it was she. And, oddly enough, that yellow plushie just didn't act like a toy. Most didn't change expression from visit to visit or yelp when clutched. It was one of those 'one or two little things' that had been bothering her, as of late. With a slight shrug of her shoulders, Sonomi downed her wine and strode into the kitchen. 

Fujitaka was rummaging in the refrigerator, "Please," he said as he pulled out a helping of pudding and mounded it onto a plate. "Please, just let it be." He sprayed whipped cream on the top of the pudding and added a cherry. "I'm sure that things will be fine." 

Sonomi smiled at the toy sitting on the counter. "I'm sure as well, Sensei." He startled, but covered quickly.

"Sonomi-kun! I was just..." he looked frantically at the plate in his hand. "Making pudding. Since the cake won't be done for quite a while." His smile was strained and he kept looking at the toy. 

"Mm." She hummed nonchalantly. "That's fine. I like pudding." The toy seemed to gape at her. "But are you certain about the cake?" She plucked the toy up as she passed by it on her way to the oven. "It smells nearly done." She opened the door to the oven and peered in. "I really can't tell by looking, I suppose." With a sigh she flung the toy into the oven. "Perhaps you'll see better," she told it and shut the door.

"Kero-kun!" Fujitaka dropped the second helping of pudding on the floor. Sonomi went to pour herself a cup of tea as he raced over to pull open the oven door. Something small, scorched, and yellow flew from the oven as though catapulted. "Kero-kun, your tail!" It appeared to be sizzling, though when the plushie suddenly grew to the size and proportions of a lion it became apparent that the tail was actually on fire.

"My mouth!" The...thing...cried, shaking the cake tin off of its face. "Cake! Hot cake! Oh, it was still batter-y in the middle!" It, Kero-kun, Sonomi supposed, danced about the kitchen, nearly upsetting the tea-pot. Sonomi moved it to a different counter-top as Fujitaka-sensei chased after the burning end of the animal while the animal chased after something, anything, for it's over-heated other-end. Sonomi took a sip of rather excellent oolong, watching the proceedings in front of her with a detached air. It was rather like watching a Three-Stooges movie, she thought, only with one less Stooge. Fujitaka nearly stepped in what was left of the cake in the pan before a descending wing-tip made it skitter into the other room. She took another sip of tea, nimbly avoided the pudding on the floor, and stepped in front of the rampaging 'Kero-kun'.

She caught his head under her arm and poured her tea directly into his wide-open mouth. "Hold still." She told it as she hastily deposited her cup and clamped both hands over his jaws to hold them closed. When it looked as though the tea had been swallowed she reached back one hand, still holding his jaws with the other, to snag the flaming tail and shove it into the sink. "Sensei?" She asked and was pleased to see him turn on the water, full blast. A plume of smoke went up and she released the beast entirely. "That's better!" She sang out, just to watch two sets of eyes bulge. 

"Aw, _woman_!" the beast howled. "What in the name of _Clow_ do you think you're up to?"

"That was very good tea, Fujitaka-sensei," she continued as though she hadn't heard a word, "I wouldn't mind another cup." She picked up her mug from where she'd placed it earlier and held it out with a charming smile. Fujitaka blinked bemusedly and reach out to take it.

"Professor!" The beast rounded on Fujitaka with a disbelieving stare. "You can't be dating this! She's crazy! She's worse than Madoushi and _she_ wanted you pushing up daisies!" Sonomi knew she wasn't going to get anything productive done with this...thing...around and so she did what any woman in need of answers had to do... "I said this was a bad idea! I knew-ulk!" She reached out and grabbed the mouthy beast by the tongue, mid-word. She didn't hold the fastest time for plucking a piece of product out of the test-audiences mouth for nothing.

"Look, Kero-chan, was it?" Her sweet smile was lined with fangs.

"Kelowblairus!" It objected. Sonomi understood him just fine; after all, the test-audiences often had fingers, toys, or bits of other test-audience member's in their mouths.

"Cerberus-chan, I'm not sure who this 'Madoushi' person is or who 'Clow' is or what they have to do with all of this." She tugged on his tongue to make sure she had his attention and leaned in to stare deep into his eyes. "That's part of my problem." He tried to turn away, to look over at the man pouring tea behind him and Sonomi sighed and tugged his tongue again. "Why don't you go back to your tiny form." It wasn't a request.

He was smarter than he looked. "_Woman_," he growled after shrinking, "you don't know who you're dealing with here!" He reminded her of the president of the first corporation Daidouji Toys had ever taken over.

She nodded thoughtfully. "That's only too true for both of us." She reached past the hovering mass of anger and yellow fuzz to accept her tea. "Thank you, Sensei." She smiled a smile that made him retreat to the tea-pot. Smart man.

"Aw, Professor, you can't be seriously dating this...this..." The poor thing stuttered to a halt as Sonomi snatched him out of the air, she drew it close and took a drink of her tea, watching it turn a mild shade of blue before she eased up on it.

"You," she said ominously, "will keep silent or I will take your plushie little self to Research and Development tomorrow and by next week there will be thirty-thousand of you gracing the shelves with a special edition pink tutu. Why, you may ask?" She gestured expansively with Kero still in her fist. "Possibly, rat-bait, because I have the feeling that you, Clow, and Madoushi have something to do not only with Sakura, the darling daughter of my beloved cousin, but also, and do correct me if I'm wrong, lint-trap, with my very own, one and only, precious daughter."

"..." Said Kero.

"..." Fujitaka said at his place by the tea-pot.

"It's so nice to be validated." Sonomi smiled graciously. "Now, you mangy, flea-ridden excuse for a plushie, you will take your tiny little self back up the stairs to Sakura-chan's room while Fujitaka-sensei and I have a nice, long, chat about Clow and Madoushi and whatever else it is that I've been missing out on." She released Kero and took a drink of tea. 

Kero folded his arms in front of him and glared at her. "Woman, you _don't _knowanything about anything. Besides, Professor is the one in charge around here, not you."

Sonomi nodded and looked past the floating guardian. Fujitiaka took his cue nicely. "Kero-kun, it might be best if you...ah, stayed out of sight for now. Sonomi-kun is right, we do need to have a....discussion."

"You promised me pudding if I didn't mention the fact that she was here!" He sounded wounded and Sonomi took pity on him. She grabbed the plate of pudding that hadn't crashed to the floor in one hand and Kero in the other. When his mouth opened to shout she upended him over the plate and brought him down over the pudding. She righted him, dish still over his face and for a long moment the only sound in the small kitchen was the _squeeeeak_ of the Golden-Eyed Beast of the Seal's lips as they squeegeed across the plate. 

"There, now you've had your pudding." Sonomi folded Kero's lips closed around the food. Its head was grotesquely swollen but it didn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary for the fuzz-bucket; Fujitaka was fluttering helplessly and not rushing to its aid, after all. She carried the furiously glaring and swallowing little beast to the foot of the stairs. "Now, plushie, I already _know_ that Fujitaka-sensei has told you why we haven't informed anybody of our relationship; imagine how hurt and awkward Sakura-chan would feel if she knew about our relationship and it ended badly?" She shook him ever so slightly. "Now just imagine how badly you'd feel if this relationship_ does _work out and somebody found out about what happened here tonight?" She waited for his glare to go speculative. "Because if that happened, rat-bait, I can guarantee that somebody would be down-graded to _Alpo_." She flung his rigidly-angry body up the stairs. "Goodnight, bath sponge." She called after him politely.

Fujitaka was waiting for her, holding out her tea-cup. "It wasn't my place to tell you." He said apologetically. "Sakura-san, Kero-kun, and the others thought it would be best if we kept it as quiet as possible."

Sonomi smiled mischievously. "Well, that idea's blown all to heck. So, we'll make something up to tell the kids." She tilted her head. "But now, I believe you have a story to share with me?" She was somewhat surprised when Fujitaka suddenly wrapped her in a tender hug.

"I'm so glad you asked me out." He sighed into her hair. She melted against him.

"Don't think this means you're getting out of telling me everything." 


End file.
